Many types of equipment, apparatus, or devices require a supply of a consumable substance. The substance may be needed for the equipment to operate properly, such as a fuel or lubricant; or the substance may be utilized by the equipment as a component or ingredient in forming a final product or output. Consumable substances may be provided in replaceable containers that are changed when the substance is depleted.
Printers with user-replaceable consumables (and related devices, such as facsimile machines and copiers) are well known in the art. For example, inkjet printers typically utilize replaceable ink supplies, either integrated with a printhead or in the form of separate supplies. In laser printers, toner is typically supplied in a replaceable cartridge, which may include the photosensitive drum on which images are formed.
It is increasingly common for containers of consumable substances to have integral electronic memory devices, which may be used for a variety of purposes by the utilizing equipment. The memory device may be used as a “keying” feature to differentiate between different substances, may contain calibration information, or may be used to indicate a status condition of the consumable, such as the substance level within the container. The memory devices may also be used for many other purposes, such as enabling specialized features of the utilizing device or providing other value to the equipment user. While earlier memory devices typically had electrical contacts that had to connect to mating contacts in the utilizing equipment, newer devices are often wireless and rely on radio frequency (RF) communication.
Replaceable printer consumables, such as inkjet cartridges, tend to be both relatively small and moderately costly to replace. The small size and relatively high cost can make the consumables tempting targets for theft, which tends to discourage the placement of printers in public or semi-public places, such as libraries, schools, restaurants, coffee shops, and hotels. The cartridges in an unattended printer are prone to be appropriated for use in another printer, such as in home computer system.
Even in more private and secure settings, such as office environments and homes, printer consumables have a tendency to “disappear”, since it can be more convenient to “borrow” a consumable from an unattended printer than to acquire a replacement consumable through appropriate channels.
Misappropriation of a cartridge of a consumable substance can result in expensive “downtime” of the utilizing equipment; replacing the cartridge can add significant additional costs, as well as being an inconvenience to the user.